by Daniel Ciminera: All I have read about in recent months is Pacquiao v Mayweather and to be perfectly honest, I was completely sick of it a long time ago. Forget Mayweather snr. Forget Golden Boy. Forget Arum. Forget Malignaggi. Forget everything but, Floyd and Manny. Why, if these are supposed to be two of the best fighters in history, is there any avoidance going on?! In my opinion, they have both shown themselves up badly and done the sport no favours whatsoever with their recent actions. Or rather, lack thereof!
Both have behaved like a pair of school children terrified of each other. I struggle at this juncture to believe either of them ever wanted the fight. I would lend more sympathy towards Pacquiao as he has had his reputation questioned in pretty shameless fashion and if he is truly offended then ok, maybe he has reason not to take the fight. Having said that, if he really did want the fight, he would just agree to the blood testing and clear his name the easy way en route to cementing his name in history.
However, I believe Floyd has behaved disgracefully. If he did not want to fight Pacquiao, he should have just said straight away, not drag it on and on and on adding more and more stipulations. He was more than happy to go on record and say he would beat Pacquiao easily. Well then Floyd, I put it to you, stop complaining and take the fight, no running your mouth, lets see some action or you will be remembered for “ducking the Pacquiao fight” forever.
Yes, I agree it would have been one of the greatest fights of all time, and certainly in the top ten of our generation. The styles of the two men are perfect for one another. Pacquiao the rough diamond, ambling forward throwing punches in bunches from all angles whilst showing immense balance and power. And of course, Mayweather with his silky polished skills and beautiful technique and handspeed. Would Pacquiao have forced his way through that awkward defence of Floyd? Would he have the power to trouble Mayweather? Could his sheer animal aggression and work-rate fluster Mayweather into losing the decision? Could Mayweather keep Pacquiao at bay? Could he hurt the smaller challenger? Would he dismantle Pacquiao using the polished skills we saw him use to tear Hatton’s dreams to shreds?
The questions are endless but, as it stands we wont get to find out because neither seems man enough to compromise in order to make the fight happen. Though I would hazard a guess that the fight will happen at some point in the near future because while they need the fight for completely different reasons, they do indeed, both need it.
Pacquiao needs this fight to end on an appropriate high. Any other fight, such as the touted Pacquiao v Malignaggi match up would be too much of a step backwards and wouldn’t be a credible fight.
On the other hand, Mayweather, believe it or not, needs the fight more than Pacquiao. After staging a comeback in 2009, seemingly in order to get ring sharp again ready for this fight. If he is to continue boxing, his stock will be worth a lot less than it once was, or indeed could be if he could beats Pacquiao.
If he wants to be remembered as the best, he has to prove it now and stop this circus before it makes the sport of boxing look like a has-been joke where the best fighters avoid each other. Or do us all a favour by retiring and allowing everyone to finally get over it!
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